


sincerity

by marshmallownose



Category: House of Anubis
Genre: F/F, Gen, KT is a lesbian I don't make the rules, Not beta'd we die like men, Patricia apologizes to KT, oh well. this could still plausibly be canon, so I took it into my own hands, this was not supposed to be as gay as it turned out to be, what we should have seen on the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2020-10-30 05:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20809058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marshmallownose/pseuds/marshmallownose
Summary: "You're a good friend.""No. No, I'm not."





	sincerity

**Author's Note:**

> we were robbed blind

The month after Ammut had been sealed away was blessedly quiet, and things returned to some semblance of normalcy—if anything in Anubis House could ever be called normal. Life was good, the residents more content than they’d been in a long time. They were moving on, moving forward.

Things were changing, too. At least, KT thought so. She had a date that night, with a pretty brunette from Hathor House. She’d never really been on a date before—hadn’t even really entertained _romance_ since she got to Anubis House—but now that the world was no longer in peril, there was time to think about those types of experiences. KT found she quite liked the idea.

She was pulling her hair into an updo when a knock at the door stilled her hand. It was probably Joy come to tell her she’d found time to help her get ready after all, but it occurred to her as she crossed the room that Joy had no reason to knock on her own door.

It made more sense when she came face to face with a fidgeting Patricia. She’d been very cautious around KT in the past weeks, tip-toeing in a way Patricia never did. KT figured she was still guilty over what she’d done under Ammut’s influence, and she couldn’t help but pity her. What had happened to the former Sinners was an extreme violation of the self, horrific to even consider and to think that a such a strong-willed girl like the one standing before her would still hold herself accountable was heartbreaking.

“Hi,” KT said, keeping her voice light.

“Hi,” Patricia replied, not quite meeting her eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched hesitantly, and she held up a bag of cosmetics. “I come bearing gifts. Joy said you had a date tonight and was supposed to do your makeup... thought I might be some help.”  
  
KT blinked, surprised. “Oh! Um, yeah, thank you! Come in,” she said, stepping out of her friend’s way so that she could get into the room. “You really don’t have to, if you don’t want.”  
  
Patricia, who’d been fingering a scarf Willow had apparently woven out of some sort of animal hair, turned to face her again, shaking her head. “No, I do. Unless”—her face crumpled suddenly—“you don’t want help? I mean, you probably don’t. This was stupid, I’ll just—”

_“Whoa, whoa,_ hang on,” KT said, cutting off Patricia’s exit. She nearly asked what the matter was, but she decided better of it after a moment. “Of course I do,” she said finally, trying to keep the mood light. “Just...maybe not so much eyeliner?”

The uncertainty behind her eyes didn’t fade, but Patricia snorted a startled laugh; the familiar sound made KT feel better. “You have to know how to do a natural look before you can go full-out. Where do you think Joy learned how to put a face on?” Looking more sure of herself, Patricia gestured to the vanity for KT to sit down.

“You taught Joy?” KT asked incredulously as she sat. “I thought maybe Amber.”

Patricia picked up KT’s foundation. “Nah,” she said, crouching down to eye level so she could apply it. “Amber taught me back when we were kids. Used to practice on me all the time. There’s totally a picture somewhere of me looking like prostitute Barbie. Shut your eyes.”  
  
She did as she was told, but didn’t hold back her laughter. “You have to find it and show me,” she giggled as Patricia applied the foundation over her face.

Patricia’s breath brushed her face when she laughed, “No way! You’d just show it to Eddie, and he’d never let me live it down!” She finished, and KT opened her eyes. Patricia was very close to her face; the last time she’d been so close, her laugh had been sinister and her eyes had flashed red. The memory came unbidden, and KT shied away for a fraction of a second. It was enough to send Patricia scooting back. “Did you want highlighter?” Patricia mumbled, turning her attention to her makeup bag; KT winced. It always felt one step forward, two steps back when it came to their relationship, and this time it had been her fault for ruining a perfectly tender moment.

KT nodded. “Yes please,” she said, and Patricia nodded mutely, setting to work with the next few steps. Neither of them spoke until it was time to set in on her eyes.

“Is that what you’re wearing tonight?” Patricia asked, pointing to KT’s sea-green blouse.

KT looked down at herself and nodded. “Yeah, Willow let me borrow it.”

She half-expected some kind of wry comment about the outfit choice, but it didn’t come. Instead, Patricia nodded approvingly. “It really suits you,” she said, and KT found herself glowing under the compliment. It wasn’t the over-enthusiastic gushing she’d have received from the other girls had they been the ones helping her out, but it was truly genuine. Patricia would never have said it if she didn’t mean it. “Grey will look good on your eyes.”

As Patricia pulled out her eyeshadow palette, KT took the time to look at her. _Really_ look at her. She was built bigger than she was, a strong frame that seemed as steady and immovable as a boulder. With her auburn hair pulled back away from her face, it was easy to examine her profile, somehow both sharp and round with an intimidating jaw.

Eddie always seemed to be attracted to her sharpness and taught strength, but KT thought, not for the first time, that if she were to just release the constantly coiled tension she always seemed to carry, Patricia would be not just pretty, but beautiful. It was an embarrassing thought, and KT shut it down with practiced ease. Not the time nor the place.

Patricia caught her gaze out of the corner of her eye, blue meeting brown. She still looked apprehensive even as she held up the palette and brush. “Found it,” she said, getting back down to the same position she’d been in before. “Shut your eyes.”

KT obeyed once again, eyelid muscles twitching under the stimulation of the brush. “You’re a good friend,” she breathed, and the brush paused in its stroke for only a second before starting up again, moving on to the next eye.

“No,” said Patricia after a moment. “No, I’m not.”

KT pulled away for a moment, looking her in the face. “Come on, don’t say that,” she said, even if some very private, vicious part of her hummed its agreement. She squashed it; she wasn’t petty. “Listen, if this is about what you did as a Sinner, I—”

“It’s not about that,” Patricia said, some of her usual bite bleeding through. It faded just as quickly as it came. “I wish that was all I had to answer for.” She screwed her eyes shut and took a sharp breath. “No, I— What I mean to say is—” She groaned in frustration. “God, you deserve a better apology than this. I just can't articulate it.”

KT blinked, hesitantly reaching a hand out for Patricia, but instead let it awkwardly hover in the air between them. “What are you apologizing for then?” 

She laughed humorlessly._ “Everything?_ I was, I was _so_ unnecessarily cruel to you this year—before Robert, before any of it. I was jealous of you and Eddie, and I was mad that he’d moved on so quickly to someone so much better than me, and I took it out on you. I was unbelievably out of line.” She huffed again, ashamed. “You didn’t deserve my nonsense over something as silly as me perceiving something that wasn’t really there.”  
  
KT was taken aback by the sincerity, but she couldn’t say that the apology didn’t settle something that had churned in her gut since the moment they’d met. It was something she didn’t know how much she’d wanted to hear. “Oh, don’t get all self-deprecating on me now,” KT said, suddenly overcome with an emotion she couldn’t place, and reached out to awkwardly hug her; Patricia barked out a startled laugh but returned the embrace. After a few beats, the words came easily. “I forgive you. I would have done the same.”  
  
Patricia pulled back and raised an eyebrow. “You would _not,”_ she said bluntly.

Deciding to play along, KT smiled cheekily. “No, I probably wouldn’t. Friends?”

Patricia’s smile was sincere and warmer then KT had ever seen it. “Friends.” She removed her arms from around her and sat back on her feet; KT settled her own hands awkwardly in her lap. “You need lipstick,” she said after a beat, rummaging through her cosmetics bag. It was as though nothing had happened, but the warmth of the moment still hung in the air like a sweet perfume. “Here, let me.”

Patricia reached for her friend’s chin and pressed the lipstick to KT’s bottom lip, dragging it along. KT shut her eyes and sighed when Patricia had finished. “All done,” she said, and KT opened her eyes and got to her feet. She looked in the mirror at her pretty face, enhanced by the makeup; Patricia got to her feet behind KT, and they locked eyes in the mirror.

“Hope you like it.”

“I do.”  
  
“Your date won’t be able to resist you,” Patricia said with a satisfied grin. 

KT sucked in a breath, blinking. She’d been so caught up in the apology, she’d practically forgotten why Patricia was putting on her makeup in the first place. She looked over at the clock on Joy’s nightstand. “Oh, crap! I’m going to be late!” she exclaimed, grabbing her bag. She paused, then turned to face Patricia fully. “Thank you,” she said.

Patricia just shook her head, stance softening into something almost gentle—for her, at least. “No,” she said. “Thank _you.”_


End file.
